In 1964, a man from a small West Texas town had a dream. He began to buy out stores that were going out of business and liquidating the merchandise. He found out that boots were the first thing to sell, so later that year, he bought an old school bus and decided to put a small boot store in downtown Colorado City, Texas. The man's name was Billy Joe Wood, and today that same small store has turned into four of the largest western stores in Texas.

Billy Joe Wood started small, traveling for three years around from town to town in his old school bus filled with boots. He traveled to towns such as Big Spring, Stanton, Seminole, Lamesa, Snyder, Post, Roby, Rotan, Sweetwater, and Plainview. He would usually set up the bus in one town for two or three days and then move onto the next town. He traveled this route for seven years.

The year 1971 marked the beginning of a new era in the boot retailing industry. Billy Joe along with his oldest son Don moved their business off of Interstate 20 in Colorado City, Texas. The original Wood's Boots began in a modest 30' x50' building handling less than 500 pairs of boots. Most people thought that they were crazy for moving away from downtown because the only thing on the interstate then was a truck stop next to Wood's Boots, and people did not think anyone would drive all the way out to the interstate to trade with Wood's Boots.

Wood's Boots has constantly grown since 1971. First, was the addition of the clothing store in 1973. Next, Wood's Family Shoes was added. Then, in 1978, the second boot store for the Wood's was added, Boot City in Lubbock, Texas. After that, Billy Joe, Don, and youngest son Paul added Wood's Boots in Odessa, Texas. With three successful boot stores the Wood's decided in 1986 to do something different for there next project; they built a replica of an old time fort and called it Fort Wood. Fort Wood has numerous stores inside includes a gift shop, saddle maker, and a barbecue restaurant. Finally, in 1988, the Wood's decided to put an additional store in Lubbock, Texas and name it Boot City, Too. Don's brother - in - law runs both of the Boot City stores.

Billy Joe Wood still looks over his dream along with his wife Berniece. Over thirty two years and three generations later, Wood's Boots is still family ownedand operated. All four of the stores are over ten thousand square feet with wall to wall inventory. Wood's Boots has grown to over 14,000 square feet and one of the largest boot stores in Texas.

The Wood's have met all kinds of people through the years, in and out of store. From country music stars to government official to actors to sports stars.

Some of the people that Billy Joe has met include: George Strait, Patty Loveless, Aaron Tippins, Ricky Van Shelton, Reba McEntire, Charlie Pride, Waylon Jennings, Bob Lilli, Tracy Lawrence, Little Texas, Tracy Byrd, Ray Price, Pam Tillis, Mel Tillis, Red Stegall, McBride and the Ride, Shelby Lynn, Charles Haley, Bill Beights, Donny Gay, Larry Mahan, Exile, Tuff Hedeman, Ty Murray, Ann Richards, Charles Stenholm, and Ben Johnson.

The Wood's have also had their merchandise worn by some celebrities: the hats in City Slickers came from Boot City, past Texas Governor Mark White bought boots from Wood's Boots, past Texas Governor Ann Richards bought a shirt at Wood's Boots, Waylon Jennings bought hats from Wood's Boots, and past Dallas Cowboy great Bob Lilly bought boots from Wood's Boots.